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User
Reviews 166
Approval 97%
Soundoffs 15
News Articles 16
Band Edits + Tags 3,434
Album Edits 8,415
Album Ratings 3527
Objectivity 88%
Last Active 12-03-22 11:37 pm
Joined 08-18-16
Review Comments 16,120
| Top 20 Songs of 2016
These are my 20 personal favorites from 2016. | | 20 |  | Waterparks
Cluster
"Territory"
I had to choose between this song from the band's "Cluster" EP and another track by Waterparks, "Hawaii (Stay Awake)" from their "Double Dare" LP for the last slot on this list. In the end, I went with this one because it's just a more unusual song. | | 19 |  | The Jezabels
Synthia
"My Love Is My Disease"
This is a song that seems to be about an unhealthy relationship, with just a touch of S&M imagery about it -- her love apparently actually chains her to her bed. Not her lover, mind you, but her love itself. Pretty kinky. There's some pretty cool electronic percussion in this one, and lead vocalist Hayley Mary has a great voice -- beautiful, but just a little biting. The rest of the album is pretty good too. | | 18 |  | Kaiser Chiefs
Stay Together
"Indoor Firework"
This song comes from their "Stay Together" album, which didn't grab me at first, but now it's my favorite album of theirs since their excellent 2005 debut "Employment". This is a sad song about a recently ended relationship with just a touch of disco guitar that actually works here. Vocalist Ricky Wilson really nails this one, with a vocal that's strong but full of pathos. | | 17 |  | School of Seven Bells
SVIIB
"Ablaze"
I just learned about this band recently, and sadly this might be their last album due to the unfortunate death of band member Benjamin Curtis. I love the gorgeous layered vocals by lead singer Alejandra Deheza on this track. | | 16 |  | Amanda Jayne
Strike a Match
"One"
Amanda Jayne is a young Long Island acoustic artist I found totally by accident. This is an excellent song, and if you get the chance, you should check out the video on YouTube -- it shows that you don't have to have a huge budget to create a funny and interesting video. | | 15 |  | Santana
Santana IV
"Come As You Are"
It was great to see Santana back with an excellent new album. This is a fun, lighthearted song with some trademark Santana Latin percussion and some of Carlos Santana's most excellent guitar. Unlike the previous songs, while the vocals are decent here, it's really all about the instrumentation, and about the playful vibe of the song. | | 14 |  | Tegan and Sara
Love You to Death
"Boyfriend"
Tegan and Sara are one of the best pop bands out there -- they really know how to bring the hooks. This is a song about a very confused relationship, with the singer complaining that her would-be love keeps their relationship secret and can't seem to decide if she wants to be a lover or a friend: "You kiss me like your boyfriend/You call me up like you would your best friend." | | 13 |  | They Might Be Giants
Phone Power
"Trouble Awful Devil Evil"
TMBG are great for writing offbeat songs on unusual subjects. In this one, the protagonist drops to his bed and falls for ten thousand years down a bottomless pit, blissfully unaware of what seems to be Armageddon going on him. The song is slow and sweetly sung, which adds to the quirky humor. | | 12 |  | David Bowie
Blackstar
"Blackstar"
This is a weird and wonderful song, done in three parts. The first part is beautiful and mysterious, the second is a little strident, but the third part returns to the sound of the first part, and somehow it's even stronger because of the change of pace in the middle. It's a fitting farewell to an artist who did his own thing instead of following the crowd. R.I.P. David Bowie. | | 11 |  | Andy Black
The Shadow Side
"Stay Alive"
Andy Black, the alter ego of Andy Biersack, the lead singer of The Black Veil Brides, has long been one of my favorite male vocalists. This is my favorite track on an album full of first-rate alternative pop songs. This one also features of Matt Skiba of Alkaline Trio/Blink-182 fame. | | 10 |  | Lights
Midnight Machines
"Follow You Down"
Lights is the performing name (and apparently now, the legal name) of a female electropop musician from Canada. This song comes from her album "Midnight Machines", which is mostly just an acoustic version of her album from last year, "Little Machines". "Follow You Down" is one of only two new songs on the album, but it's a good one, very quiet, very pretty. I really don't have much else to say about it. | | 9 |  | White Lung
Paradise
"Below"
Although White Lung is primarily a punk band, "Below" is pretty much the ballad of the "Paradise" album. Lead singer Mish Way-Barner reaches emotional depths I didn't previously realize she was capable of on this song. | | 8 |  | Kristin Kontrol
X-Communicate
"X-Communicate"
Kristin Kontrol, aka Kristin Welchez is also Dee Dee, the lead singer of the California indie rock band Dum Dum Girls. Kontrol has since moved to New York and released this solo project. This album tends more towards danceable synth-pop than her work with the Dum Dums. I'm only so-so on the album as a whole, but there's no question that this is an excellent track. | | 7 |  | blink-182
California
"San Diego"
There's a lot to like on blink-182's "California" album, and this song is at the top of heap. It's a lost-love song, with some powerful vocal harmonies on the chorus, as the singer looks back with regret on a happier time before things fell apart, when he and his love bought a one-way ticket to San Diego to see a Cure concert. A lot of longtime blink fans have had a hard time getting into this album, but as more of a casual fan of the band, I enjoyed it. Especially this song. | | 6 |  | Mother Feather
Mother Feather
"Beach House"
Mother Feather is a glam rock band from New York City. Although I enjoyed their self-titled debut album, this, their most atypical song, is my favorite on the album. It's a musical version of many a city dweller's fantasy, namely to own a house on the beach to which to escape. But unlike most people, this band is willing to work for it: "But I want the beach house/I wanna build it with my bare hands/Work until I wear out/Sleepover with my best friends." I'm not even a beach person, but they make it sound soooo good. | | 5 |  | Against The Current
In Our Bones
"Young & Relentless"
As you know if you read my Top 10 Albums list, I really liked this Poughkeepsie band's LP debut album a lot. This kind of seems like it might be the group's theme song. They're this very young band, full of energy, and somehow their lyrics just capture that fast-paced lifestyle that the young often lead: "We could be anyplace, anytime, in any moment/It's a race to the line". I myself need a nap just thinking about it. | | 4 |  | Gwen Stefani
This Is What the Truth Feels Like
"Rare"
This is a pure pop song, my favorite of the year in that genre. In a world full of songs about love gone wrong, this is one about love gone right, as Stefani tells her man "You're rare/And I'm loving every second of it, don't you know/You're rare/And only a stupid girl would let it go." The album, "This Is What the Truth Feels Like", hit #1 on the Billboard charts, but for some reason, they didn't release this as a single. Maybe they still will. | | 3 |  | Twenty One Pilots
Blurryface
"Heathens"
Although I had to use the "Blurryface" album to get a picture to show up on this list, this one is actually from the "Suicide Squad" soundtrack. This is one of those songs that grabbed me at first hearing. It's an ode to finding beauty in the damaged and downtrodden of society. The last line says it all: "It looks like you might be one of us." | | 2 |  | 888
Critical Mistakes
"Critical Mistakes"
888 is an alternative electro band from Denver, CO. Like "Heathens", this song grabbed me at first listen. And also like "Heathens", this song has a great video that goes along with it, featuring people who messed up their lives by making terrible mistakes like murdering someone or accidentally killing someone while drunk driving, being confronted by the people whose lives they have damaged, and trying to find a way to live with the things they've done. For the last few months I struggled to decide if this song or the next would be my #1. | | 1 |  | Bayside
Vacancy
"Mary"
In the end, though, I guess it's no shock that in a close call, I leaned a little in the direction of Bayside, one of my favorite bands, in picking my favorite song of the year. "Mary" is a little different for a Bayside song. To my ears, it sounds more like classic rock than their usual pop punk. It's an ode to a lost friend (or fan), with a very danceable chorus. I've searched the Internet in vain to find who the actual Mary might have been to lead singer/songwriter Anthony Raneri, but in the end, I guess it's enough just to enjoy the song. "So go on, work all your angles out/Get a plan together, get your demons out/'Cause Mary, the world wants to bring you down/But don't you let them." | |
Divaman
02.18.17 | Several things on here most of you have probably never heard of, and lots on here many of you probably hated. What can I tell you? These were my favorites. | FullOfSounds
02.18.17 | Bro My Love Is My Disease is top 50 of '16 for sure | Pangea
02.18.17 | 19, 14, 12, 9 are great | Divaman
02.18.17 | Thanks, guys. I'm going to take in this flow of positivity to steel myself against the "Your taste sucks, dude!" comments sure to follow. | Joeman82
02.18.17 | I love tøp, but I despise heathens and the cancer cover. Minimalistic instrumentation and poor lyricism are my problems with heathens. |
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